UK law degrees: University of Chester

forum_admin · #1 04-11-2009, 02:10 AM

University of Chester offering qualifying law degrees recognised in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The University of Chester is a university based in the city of Chester in the United Kingdom.

The University, based on a main campus in Chester and a smaller campus in nearby Warrington, offers a full range of foundation, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral courses, as well as undertaking academic research. The University is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the UK: it was founded in 1839 by William Gladstone and Lord Derby as the country's first purpose-built teacher training college and has since evolved into a college of higher education, then a university college and finally a university.

University of Chester: Study at campuses in Chester and Warrington

The University of Chester Law School

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The Law School was established in September 2004 with the appointment of Professor Roger Kay as the founding head. The LLB Honours Degree (a qualifying law degree) was validated along with a Law Combined Honours Degree in March 2005. Both programmes were highly commended and the representative on the validation panel from The Law Society and The Bar Council indicated that she was “extremely impressed with the proposed provision.” Both courses recruited well in 2005 and 2006 and there are now close to 200 students studying law at the University.

The School currently has 9 Academic Staff equivalent to 6.8 fte’s. There will be further recruitment of lecturers who will join The School in 2007. The staffing levels will increase with the likely rise in applications for both the Single Honours and Joint Degree Courses and the development of other programmes. Applications for Single Honours LLB in 2006 increased by 55% on the previous year. Applications have increased on this figure again this year and there has also been a 22% increase in Joint Honours Applications. A full time Administrator (plus part time administrative support), Law Librarian and a specialist Careers Adviser are also in post. The administrative support position will become full time in the summer.

The School is based in the Allen Building which is in the centre of the Campus next to the Learning Resource Centre (The Library). The School will take over the whole ground floor. A purpose built mooting courtroom is in place. This room also contains seven networked PC’s. The room’s format has been designed to allow students to enhance a range of skills which are required to successfully study law at degree level. The enhancement of these skills will also make students an attractive proposition to potential legal and non legal employers.

The Law Library is based in the main campus library. An initial investment of £200,000 for the establishment of the library has been spent and there is and will be a substantial continuing investment in the development of the law library.

The School has already forged close links with The College of Law at Christleton. Students from the School have visited the College of Law and some students have been involved in joint activities, such as a mock Magistrates court trial in Chester Magistrates Court. The College of Law have also confirmed that all of The School’s law graduates who achieve a 2:2 or above will be guaranteed a place on the Legal Practice Course run by the College of Law at any one of its’ five campuses.

The School has also established good and cordial connections with the local legal profession and the judiciary. Storrar Cowdry, Solicitors in Chester, have sponsored the Head of School’s Chair in Family law. They have also guaranteed to take one Chester Law graduate as a trainee from 2008. A number of students have also had ‘shadowing’ opportunities with local solicitors, barristers and circuit judges. A summer work experience scheme has also been arranged with the Chester office of Hill Dickinson, one of the largest solicitors’ practices in the North West and this scheme will be widened this year to include the CPS and hopefully other legal providers. Other Firms such as DWF (another large solicitors firm in the North of England) have also visited the University to both give talks and provide advice to law students. The School has also arranged talks by the Probation Service and local barristers. The School is currently putting in place other plans for co-operation and this will lead to further work placements and other opportunities for law students at the University. Please look at the page on this Website displaying our newsletters which provide further details of these activities, and other news regarding staff and students. The Law School is already at the heart of the legal community in Cheshire.

University of Chester Law School

The aims of the School are:

To provide inspired teaching
An open and friendly learning environment
Excellent pastoral support of students
To support the students with the development and running of a student law society
To conduct research and publish, in the School’s areas of expertise
Forge links and undertake outside work with the regions legal profession
To be a quality provider of legal education in the North West

The School offers a single honours three-year programme leading to the award of LLB. This qualification is a qualifying law degree and is thereby recognised by the Professional bodies. This means that a student who is planning to enter the legal professions of England and Wales will have successfully completed the Academic Stage of Training.

The School also offers (subject to validation) a qualifying law degree combined with Criminology or Journalism. It is planned that these two new courses will commence in September 2007. In these two courses the students study all the necessary foundation law subjects required by the Professional bodies but also have an opportunity to study some law options in the third year together with 2 options per year in either criminology or journalism.

The combined honours law degree offers a student the opportunity to study law along with another academic discipline. You can choose the law element of the programme to be a major, minor or joint part of your degree studies. Popular choices, for example, are Law and Criminology; Law and Business Studies; and Law and English. It is not a qualifying law degree but on a law major route, partial exemptions from some parts of the GDL/CPE* can be applied for.

The School plans to develop an LLM for delivery in 2008 and is keen to develop further areas of post-graduate study and research. The School will also contribute to the delivery of areas of law in programmes of other disciplines.

*The conversion course for non LLB graduates

Contact Information

Roger Kay
Telephone:
01244 512300
Email:
r.kay@chester.ac.uk

Philip Hunter
Telephone:
01244 512302
Email:
p.hunter@chester.ac.uk

Admissions Enquiries
Telephone:
01244 511000
Email:
enquiries@chester.ac.uk

University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester CH1 4BJ
Tel: +44 (0)1244 511000 | Email: enquiries@chester.ac.uk

Telephone:
01244 511000
Email:
enquiries@chester.ac.uk

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